Dishonored 2 gets E3 2016 gameplay videos galore

Bethesda’s E3 2016 event ended with a pretty extensive look at Dishonored 2, including a couple of gameplay segments narrated by Arkane’s Harvey Smith. Much of the plot and background aspects mentioned might already be known to dedicated Dishonored 2 followers (things like being able to play as Emily or Corvo and so on), but the footage was all new.

The game is set fifteen years after the first, and starts with Emily experiencing another spot of royal bad luck when an “otherworldly usurper” takes her throne. That means Corvo and herself have to slum it in the city of Karnaca (on the Isle of Serkonos) until they’ve uncovered the conspirators and stabbed a bunch of people. Or, knowing Dishonored, sent them to a fate much worse than a thorough stabbing.

Anyway, the gameplay walkthrough stuff below starts in the Dust district of the city, where the Overseers are fighting a war with the local Howler gang. True to form, Smith says you can side with either faction (or ignore them both) to achieve your aims here. As the video progresses, it becomes clear Emily is hunting the Overseer boss on this particular occasion.

That’s a nice excuse to show off some returning things from the first game (the Wall of Light, slightly janky combat), as well as some random dust storm weather effects and a few of Emily’s powers. One of which, the Shadow Walk, appears to briefly turn her into a horrifying beast of the abyss. She can also stun foes for a while with Mesmorise, and use an ability call Domino to link enemies together (and when the ‘band’ is broken, they all fall down).

After that segment, the Dishonored 2 event moved on to showing a different mission; one which involved a spot of time-hopping. A handy device allows Emily (or Corvo) to switch between a time period where the manor house location was flourishing, and the present (where it’s ruined). The very same device gives you an overlay of the other time period at all times, so you can use it to work around puzzles (doors in one time period, for example) or hilariously sneak up on guards and appear FROM THE FUTURE behind them.

All of that can be seen in the video below. It’s taken from a stream, so the quality isn’t exactly amazing. Following that is the official gameplay trailer, which is slicker but also much shorter in length. It does feature Fleetwood Mac, mind you.

Dishonored 2 will be released on 11 November. By the sounds of it, those who pre-order will get a copy of the Dishonored: Definitive Edition (including all the rather great DLC). Even on PC, it sounds like.